111th Congress opens with drama in Senate

Pelosi's second term as speaker takes back seat as Burris is barred from Senate chamber and Feinstein snubs CIA pick Panetta

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 06: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swears in members of the 111th Congress in the House Chambers January 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Democratic party holds a majority of the seats in the House and the Senate just as President-elect Barack Obama is prepared to take the charge of the administration on January 20. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) less

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 06: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swears in members of the 111th Congress in the House Chambers January 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Democratic party holds a majority of the ... more

Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

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WASHINGTON - JANUARY 06: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swears in members of the 111th Congress in the House Chambers January 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Democratic party holds a majority of the seats in the House and the Senate just as President-elect Barack Obama is prepared to take the charge of the administration on January 20. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) less

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 06: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) swears in members of the 111th Congress in the House Chambers January 6, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Democratic party holds a majority of the ... more

Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

111th Congress opens with drama in Senate

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San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi - the first female speaker of the House - was elected to her second term Tuesday, but that milestone was overshadowed by high drama in the Senate.

Members took their oaths for the 111th Congress, with Democrats controlling both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue for the first time since 1994. They have two weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in and the Obama era begins in earnest.

The day, however, was all spectacle. Democrats barred a tainted Illinois appointee from the Senate, Vice President-elect Joe Biden was sworn in by Vice President Dick Cheney for a Senate seat he will soon abandon, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein snubbed fellow Californian and Democrat Leon Panetta as Obama's choice to head the CIA.

The Senate interloper, Roland Burris, was appointed by disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. The matter is a giant embarrassment for Democrats, and Burris, 71, a former state attorney general, was hardly making it any easier for them.

He was escorted into the Capitol by the sergeant at arms, but was not authorized to enter the Senate chamber. Burris promptly held a news conference outside in the cold rain and declared himself the junior senator from Illinois.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Burris is not certified by the Illinois secretary of state. Reid had said earlier Burris would not be allowed to serve.

But the Senate is filled with lawyers, and one of them, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a former prosecutor, said he sees no legal way for Democrats to escape their dilemma. Pulling from his pocket the name of a 1969 Supreme Court case, Powell vs. McCormack, Sessions said the Constitution sets the standards for seating a new member, not Congress.

If Burris were to take his case to the Supreme Court, Sessions said, his case would "come back like a rubber ball off the wall."

Congress only has the power to expel members, Sessions pointed out, and that requires a two-thirds vote. "The more I think about it, this is a threat to the institution because you cannot politically refuse to seat people," Sessions said.

Feinstein, already at the center of the Panetta controversy, agreed that Burris should be seated once he is certified, or else it would undermine all gubernatorial appointments.

"The question, really, is one in my view of law. And that is, does the governor have the power to make the appointment? And the answer is yes. Is the governor discredited? And the answer is yes. Does that affect his appointment power? And the answer is no until certain things happen."

Feinstein, the new chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a plum she had long sought, was swarmed by reporters begging for an explanation for her coolness toward Panetta. It seemed unlikely that the Senate would refuse to confirm the former eight-term Monterey congressman, considered a beacon of integrity in Washington. Feinstein issued a statement saying that both Obama and his new vice president and her colleague, Biden, had called her to explain Panetta's qualifications.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., meanwhile spent their final moments in the most exclusive club on Earth awaiting their confirmations, Clinton as secretary of state and Salazar as secretary of the interior. West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, 91 and in a wheelchair, cried out several amen's during the invocation prayer. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., returned from his bout with brain cancer, walking with a cane.

Republican ranks were noticeably thinned as Democrats welcomed seven newcomers. There may soon be one more, former comedian Al Franken, still on hold in Minnesota pending the outcome of a disputed recount. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who lost the election to Obama, was seated calmly in his regular chair.

Over in the House, Pelosi again surrounded herself with children, including several of her grandchildren, as she accepted the gavel. She thanked her husband of 45 years, Paul Pelosi, who watched from the gallery, and the people of San Francisco for sending her back to Congress. She welcomed her new partnership with Obama.

When the president-elect takes the oath of office Jan. 20 on the Capitol steps, "He will look down the long stretch of the National Mall and see the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from which Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called us to the deepest truth of our founding dream," Pelosi said. "When Barack Obama raises his right hand and takes the oath of office, we will know and the world will witness how far America has come."

Pelosi's 256-178 majority has 21 more Democrats than before, and probably 22 if a Democrat fills the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff.

Amid all the brouhaha, Democrats and Republicans joined to cheer minority leader John Boehner as he laid down his partisan sword.

"President-elect Obama has expressed a desire to govern from the center and put the needs of our country first," Boehner said. "I think all of you know that Washington is a difficult town, and it won't always be easy for him to do these things. But when our new president extends his hand across the aisle to do what is right for our country, Republicans will extend ours in return."